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Quick Tip: Keep Extra Cycling Stuff on Hand

Think of all the things you regularly have to replace on a bike (and on other equipment), some more often than others:

  • tubes
  • sealant
  • chains
  • cleats
  • tires
  • brake pads
  • cassettes
  • tube patches

I could surely go on. The point is, if it’s an item that you know you’re going to need at some point during the next few months, why not stock up? Why risk missing a ride – or keep riding on faulty equipment that needs to be replaced – because you don’t have an extra on hand to immediately replace the old one?

I almost always try to buy things on sale, and in quantities large enough to last for a year or longer. That means buying not one tire at a time, but maybe four; not one even two tubes, but perhaps four to six; not one chain, but at least two. And so forth for many of the products mentioned above.

Most of these regularly-replaced items are small and take up very little storage space. And most last for a pretty long time. So keep extra “cycling provisions” on hand and save yourself the scurrying in your time of need.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chains! It seems my bike eats them.
    On the subject of chains, I wish I could buy a some sort of robot that a-z cleaned the chain.
    I live in an apartment and do not have space for the mess that hand cleaning a chain creates, and the usual chain cleaning devices tend to have a “mess footprint” that is incompatible with apartment life.

  2. I like to have one extra set of road wheels with tires and cassette mounted and ready to go — just in case I walk out and one tire is flat and I’m in a hurry. This has paid off many times over the years, even letting a friend borrow a front wheel when he showed up and found he had a flat front and our group was ready to go. Of course all of this could have been prevented with more planning, but the extra set of wheels is on my list for my road bike. I used to do the same for mtn bike but no longer do that since 29 became the norm.

  3. The only constant supplies I keep on hand are an extra set of tires, a couple of tubes, and an unopened patch and glue kit. I know the rest of the stuff when something is about to wear out in plenty of advance before needing it suddenly. And if something did break, like a chain for example, though I have never broken a chain in over 50 years of riding, I have other bikes to ride, so it’s not a big deal, plus chains are readly in stock at any bike shop, or online.

    I have a lot of spare parts, but those are mostly for my vintage bikes and to build up a vintage bike frame. The parts came in handy when I upgraded my 77 Raleigh Competition GS from Campy GS derailleurs (which never worked that great) to brand new Nuovo Record derailleurs from the same year I had in storage for many years. I also replaced the Weinmann Carrera brakes with Campy brakes that work much smoother. Those GS derailleurs and the Carrera brakes might get used on the project bike, but I have other components I might use but haven’t decided which to use, it might depend to some degree on compatibility.

  4. Don’t forget replacement cables for those still on mechanical shifters and brakes. Nothing worse than a broken cable and not having replacements on hand. It just happened to me this past Tuesday, and I had the cables on the shelf. Now to order the next replacement set.

  5. I’m not so sure about “Most of these regularly-replaced items are small and take up very little storage space.” I’ve got three good size boxes of these, and another large garbage bag full of tires.

    But I’m getting low, down to three chains. Maybe it’s time to buy some more?!